Crude oil prices

April WTI (West Texas Intermediate) crude oil (USL) (SCO) (VDE) futures contracts rose 2.4% and settled at $48.86 per barrel on March 15, 2017. Broader markets (SPY) (SPX-INDEX) also rose 0.8% to 238.9 on March 15, 2017. Oil and gas are major parts of the energy sector. The energy sector contributed to ~6.5% of the S&P 500 as of March 10, 2017.

The US dollar (UUP) fell 1% to 100.6 on the same day. The US dollar already priced in the rate hike. The fall in the dollar supported oil prices on March 15, 2017.

However, crude oil (XLE) (IXC) (IEZ) futures are trading near a three-month low due to the rise in Saudi Arabia’s crude oil production. Meanwhile, the EIA (U.S. Energy Information Administration) released its weekly crude oil inventory report on March 15, 2017. Prices rose due to the factors mentioned above. However, the recovery in crude oil prices would be short-lived due to the following data from the inventory report.